STAR CHEFS DINNER AT LO & BEHOLD

An AVFilm tradition returns to Lo & Behold with a new cast of local star chefs to dazzle your palate.

Culinary heavyweights Carlos Mojica (Guiso), Melissa Yanc (Quail & Condor), Sean Kelley (Lo & Behold), and Crista Luedtke (boon eat + drink) will come together to produce an exceptional evening that pays homage to the relationship between film, food, and wine. The dinner will feature an elegant multi-course menu, with the chefs preparing mouth-watering dishes inspired by favorite films.

Pitch-perfect wine pairings will be provided by Sutro Wines, Smith Story, Seghesio, and Medlock Ames.

Join us on Tuesday, February 27, 2024, at 6pm for this unforgettable feast for the senses. Dietary requests will be accommodated. Tickets are $250.

More about the chefs…

CARLOS MOJICA – Guiso Latin Fusion. In 2015, the Mojica family pooled together the money to open Guiso Latin Fusion, a sophisticated Salvadoran and Caribbean restaurant in downtown Healdsburg. Casual but serious about its cooking, the restaurant has become especially popular among local restaurant workers. Young chef Carlos Mojica has used the restaurant to share recipes passed down from his grandmother, including the peppery and complex guiso sauce that flavors dishes like the handmade, cheese-stuffed pupusas ($14) and camarones borrachos ($26). Accordingly, the front-of-house staff are overwhelmingly friendly, doling out hugs to regulars and openly sharing the lore behind each and every recipe.

MELISSA MCGAUGHEY (YANC) – Quail & Condor. Melissa began baking at seven years old with her grandmother. That interest grew with her through graduating pastry school, working in the best restaurants in Denver, opening her first bakery in Denver at age 23 and finally moving across the country twice to direct large pastry programs on the East and West Coasts for some of the leading names in the baking industry: Bien Cuit (New York) and Gjusta (Los Angeles). Since moving to Northern California, she has worked at SingleThread as the hotel baker and has baked bread for multiple farmers markets, hotels, and wineries. During the pandemic she and Sean began a “Porch Pick Up” from their home in Healdsburg, driving community gathering in a safe system. Their popularity created giant lines snaking through the Healdsburg Farmers market in 2019. In 2020, the couple bootstrapped the Quail & Condor retail bakery located at 149 Healdsburg Avenue, where they focus on both the guest and employee experience. Educating both the guest and team on high-level technique, sustainable sourcing & production, and philanthropic projects.

SEAN RAYMOND KELLEY – Owner & Executive Chef of Lo & Behold Bar + Kitchen in Healdsburg. A veteran with 25 years experience in the kitchen, Sean has worked at a number of Sonoma County institutions, most notably as the Chef at Underwood Bar & Bistro in Graton for 10 years. As a graduate of Tante Marie’s Cooking School in SF Sean has a strong foundation in French technique via Northern California. His food is inspired by his trips across the globe with a particular love for the foods of South America and Asia. Helping his grandmother cook her extravagant holiday dinners as a kid solidified his love of cooking and seeing the joy of friends and family gathered around a table enjoying food is a strong motivator to this day.

CRISTA LUEDTKE – Boon Hotel + Spa. Chef Crista is the chef/owner of boon eat + drink and BROT modern german and is the proprietor for boon hotel + spa. She has been featured in Forbes, Food & Wine magazine, Condé Nast Traveler, Cosmopolitan, The New York Times, and Sunset magazine among others. She was crowned as the first ever Triple G Grand Champion in December 2015 and Champion of DDD GGG Super Teams in January 2020 on Food Network’s Guy’s Grocery Games and is often seen as one of their culinary judges. Crista is passionate about traveling and seeks out local culinary gems and new flavors wherever she goes. she’s translated this into a food and travel concept show called Lost in Taste, airing on ReachTV. crista is also featured in a documentary film called Empire on Main Street, which won many awards in the film festival circuit, including ‘Best Documentary Short’ at the Emerging Filmmaker Showcase at the American Pavilion in Cannes, France.